Method, system and program product for approving item requests

ABSTRACT

Under the present invention, an approver will log into a purchase application or the like. Upon logging in, the approver will be presented with a view of all item requests for which he/she must make an approval determination. The approver can also be presented with informational messages for the requested items. In any event, the approver can make an approval determination for the item requests and post comments related thereto. Once the approval determination has been made for a particular item request, an approver list and approval status corresponding thereto is updated. It should be understood that as used herein, the term “item” is intended to refer to goods or services.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of currently pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/687,851 filed on Oct. 17, 2003. The applicationidentified above is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety forall that it contains in order to provide continuity of disclosure

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a method, system and programproduct for approving item requests. Specifically, under the presentinvention, an approver can approve or reject multiple item requestsusing a single interface within an application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In business, it has become common for employees to request goods andservices to perform essential job functions. Such requests can includeitems ranging from stationery and business cards to actual goods (e.g.,chemicals) needed for production. As businesses become more computerdependent, many item requests are made using one or more computer-basedapplications. For example, an employee seeking to order a particularitem can log into a front-end system such as a purchasing applicationand browse available items for the item he/she needs. Upon locating thedesired item, the employee can submit a request for the same. Therequest is often processed by a back-end system that interfaces with theappropriate item supplier.

Unfortunately, as efficient as computer-based item ordering can be,certain controls are typically desired. Specifically, a business oftendesires one or more levels of approval to be given before an item isactually ordered from a supplier. This prevents both unnecessary andunauthorized expenditure of resources. In many instances, several levelsof approval are required. For example, if an employee is attempting topurchase a chemical, management might desire that the request not onlybe approved by the employee's supervisors, but also by financial andsafety personnel.

To date, the approval process has been an off-line process.Specifically, when an item is requested by an employee, an electronicmessage (e.g., an e-mail) is typically sent to all applicable approvers.Without logging into the underlying purchase application. each approverwill respond to the electronic message indicating their approval orrejection of the request. Once all necessary approvals are obtained, theitem request is formally approved. This methodology can becomeburdensome for an approver who receives multiple item requests in anygiven time interval. In particular, the approver could be subject to anincessant barrage of electronic messages for each item request.Furthermore, the electronic messages do not typically include anabundance of information. Rather, the message might only identify therequestor, the requested item, a price and a quantity. However,additional information such as safety data, etc. could be extremelyrelevant in the approver's decision to approve or reject the request.

In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a method, system andprogram product for approving item requests. Specifically, a need existsfor a system in which an approver can approve or reject items requestsupon logging into an underlying application. Further a need exists foran approver to be presented with a single view of all item requests forwhich he/she needs to make an approval determination. Still yet, a needexists for a system in which additional, relevant information can bepresented to an approver for each item request.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for approving item requests. Specifically, under the presentinvention, an approver will log into a purchase application or the like.Upon logging in, the approver will be presented with a view of all itemrequests for which he/she must make an approval determination. Theapprover can also be presented with informational messages for therequested items, with which he/she must concur before approving orrejecting an item request. In any event, the approver can make anapproval determination for the item requests and post comments relatedthereto. Once the approval determination has been made for a particularitem request, an approver list and approval status corresponding theretois updated.

A first aspect for the present invention provides a computer-implementedmethod for approving item requests, comprising: logging an approver intoan application; displaying a view containing a set of item requests tothe approver; receiving an approval determination for at least one ofthe set of item requests from the approver; and updating an approverlist corresponding to the at least one of the set of item requests basedon the approval determination.

A second aspect for the present invention provides a system forapproving item requests, comprising: an item display system fordisplaying a view containing a set of item requests to an approverwithin an application; an approval determination system for receiving anapproval determination for at least one of the set of item requests fromthe approver; and an update system for updating an approver listcorresponding to the at least one of the set of item requests based onthe approval determination.

A third aspect for the present invention provides a program productstored on a recordable medium for approving item requests, which whenexecuted, comprises: program code for displaying a view containing a setof item requests to an approver within an application; program code forreceiving an approval determination for at least one of the set of itemrequests from the approver; and program code for updating an approverlist corresponding to the at least one of the set of item requests basedon the approval determination.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method, system and programproduct for approving item requests.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of this invention will be more readilyunderstood from the following detailed description of the variousaspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a system for approving item requests, according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative view of item requests, according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a method flow diagram, according to the presentinvention.

Is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. Thedrawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention,and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of theinvention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elementsbetween the drawings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As indicated above, the present invention provides a method, system andprogram product for approving item requests. Specifically, under thepresent invention, an approver will log into a purchase application orthe like. Upon logging in, the approver will be presented with a view ofall item requests for which he/she must make an approval determination.The approver can also be presented with informational messages for therequested items, with which he/she must concur before approving orrejecting an item request. In any event, the approver can make anapproval determination for the item requests and post comments relatedthereto. Once the approval determination has been made for a particularitem request, an approver list and approval status corresponding theretois updated. It should be understood that as used herein, the term “item”is intended to refer to goods or services.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system 10 for approving item requests isshown. In general, requestor 14 will attempt to order items that aresubject to approval by one or more approvers such as approvers 18A-B. Itshould be understood that two approvers 18A-B are shown for illustrativepurposes only and that other variations could exist. In any event, asdepicted, system 10 includes computer system 12, requestor device 16 andapprover devices 20A-B. Requestor device 16 and approver devices 20A-Bare intended to represent any type of computerized systems capable ofcommunicating with computer system 12. For example, requestor device 16and approver devices 20A-B could comprise personal computing devicessuch as a laptop, personal computer, hand held device, cellular phone,pager device, etc. Moreover, requestor device 16 and approver device20A-B typically communicate with computer system 12 via a public networksuch as the Internet, or a private network such as a local area network(LAN), wide area network (WAN), a virtual private network (VPN), etc. Tothis extent, communication between computer system 12, requestor device16 and approver devices 20A-B could occur in a client-server environmentvia a direct hardwired connection (e.g., serial port), or via anaddressable connection that may utilize any combination of wirelineand/or wireless transmission methods. As such, the server and clientsmay utilize conventional network connectivity, such as Token Ring,Ethernet, WiFi or other conventional communications standards. Moreover,connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-basedprotocol. In this instance, the clients would utilize an Internetservice provider to establish connectivity to the server. It should beunderstood, however, that the architecture shown in FIG. 1 is intendedto be illustrative only and that other variations are possible. Forexample, requestor 14 and approvers 18A-B could access computer system12 directly, without their own individual “devices.”

As depicted, computer system 12 generally includes central processingunit (CPU) 22, memory 24, bus, 26, input/output (I/O) interfaces 28,external devices/resources 30, and storage unit 32. CPU 22 may comprisea single processing unit, or be distributed across one or moreprocessing units in one or more locations, e.g., on a client and server.Memory 24 may comprise any known type of data storage and/ortransmission media, including magnetic media, optical media, randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a data cache, a dataobject, etc. Storage unit 32 may comprise any type of data storage forproviding more static storage of data used in the present invention. Assuch, storage unit 32 may include one or more storage devices, such as amagnetic disk drive or an optical disk drive. Moreover, similar to CPU22, memory 24 and/or storage unit 32 may reside at a single physicallocation, comprising one or more types of data storage, or bedistributed across a plurality of physical systems in various forms. Tothis extent, memory 24 and/or storage unit 32 can include datadistributed across, for example, a LAN, WAN or a storage area network(SAN) (not shown).

I/O interfaces 28 may comprise any system for exchanging informationto/from one or more external devices 22. External devices 30 maycomprise any known type of external device, including speakers, a CRT,LED screen, hand held device, keyboard, mouse, voice recognition system,speech output system, printer, monitor/display, facsimile, pager, etc.Bus 26 provides a communication link between each of the components incomputer system 12 and likewise may comprise any known type oftransmission link, including electrical, optical, wireless, etc. Inaddition, although not shown, additional components, such as cachememory, communication systems, system software, etc., may beincorporated into computer system 12. It is understood that requestordevice 16 and approver devices 18A-B typically include the samecomponents (e.g., CPU, memory, etc.) as shown and described withreference to computer system 12. These components have not beenseparately shown or discussed for brevity.

Shown in memory 24 is purchasing application 34, which can incorporatesome or all of any existing application that requestor 14 can operate torequest items for purchase. To this extent, when requestor 14 wishes torequest an item, he/she will be validated by validation system 40 (e.g.,via a user name and password) and log into purchasing application 34.Once logged in, requestor 14 will interface with item request system 36to select items for purchase. In a typical embodiment, item requestsystem 36 is configured to allow requestor 14 to browse one or morelists of available items, and select the desired items. To this extent,item request system 36 could allow requestor 14 to select multiple itemsin a “shopping cart” format. Regardless, once requestor 14 has selectedone or more items, item request system 36 will generate an item request.If a single item has been requested, or multiple items have beenselected within a single “shopping cart,” a single item request could begenerated. However, this need not be the case as each selected itemcould result in a separate item request.

Once an item request has been generated, it must be approved by allapplicable approvers 18A-B before the purchase is allowed. Under thepresent invention, approval of an item request is an on-line process,meaning that approvers 18A-B will log into purchasing application 34 tomake approval determinations. In one embodiment, notification system 38will build an approver list that identifies all approvers (e.g., 18A-B)who must approve of each item request. In this embodiment, notificationsystem 38 could access a set of rules or policies in storage unit 32that dictates which approvals must be given for particular items. Forexample, if requestor 14 is attempting to purchase a chemical, the rulescould dictate that requestor 14′s supervisor (e.g., 18A) and a safetymanager (e.g., 18B) must approve the item request. Once all applicableapprovers 18A-B are identified, notification system 38 can send anapproval message to the first required approver (e.g., approver 18A) onthe list informing him/her that an item request requiring approval hasbeen made. Typically, the approval message is electronic such as anelectronic mail or instant message. Further, the approval message couldinclude a hyperlink or the like that will bring approver 18A to a logininterface of purchasing application 34 (e.g., as provided by validationsystem 40). In sending an approval message, notification system 38 canbe configured to transmit an approval message each time an item requestis made, or at predetermined time intervals (e.g., daily). It should beunderstood, however, that approval messages are not required under thepresent invention. Rather, approver 18A could periodically log intopurchasing application 34 at their leisure to see if any item requestsrequiring their approval have been made.

In any event, after approver 18A is authenticated by validation system40, approver 18A can be subject to further screening. For example,validation system 40 could check an employee database to ensure thatapprover 18A is authorized to make approval determinations. It could bethe case that approver 18A no longer has such permission within thebusiness, even though he/she could still gain access to purchasingapplication 34. Assuming approver 18A is validated and authorized,request display system 42 will display a view of item requests toapprover 18A. The view will not only include the item request made byrequestor 14, but also all other item requests that are pending forwhich approver 18A must make an approval determination. Referring toFIG. 2, an illustrative view of item requests 50 is depicted. As shown,view of 50 lists a set (e.g., one or more) of item requests 52. Bychecking check boxes 54, item requests can be individually approved.Therefore, view 50 allows approver 18A to view and individually approveor reject all item requests. It should be understood that an entireshopping cart of items could be presented in view 54 as one item request52. In addition, although not shown, request display system 42 (FIG. 1)could display one or more informational messages for approver 18A. Suchinformational messages could include, for example, relevant safety dataabout the requested item. For example, if an item being requested is achemical, the following informational message could be displayed. “Thisis a chemical item and should only be delivered to a building that canhouse toxic chemicals. Your clicking on the ‘Next’ button signifiesconcurrence.” If the approver does not concur, the item request cannotbe approved or rejected.

Referring back to FIG. 1, any approval determinations (e.g., to approveor reject) made by approver 18A will be received by approvaldetermination system 44 and possibly stored in storage unit 32. Inmaking an approval determination, approval determination system 44 couldalso provide approver 18A with the capability to post comments regardinghis/her determination. For example, if approver 18A rejected the itemrequest, approvers 18A could post a comment indicating the reason(s).Once an approval determination is received, update system 46 will updatethe approver list and approval status corresponding to the item request.As described above, the approver list identifies all approvers 18A-Bthat must approve an item request. In the example discussed above inconjunction with FIG. 1, the approver list would include approver 18Aand approver 18B. Once approver 18A has made an approval determination,the approver list would be updated to reflect this fact. Similarly, theapproval status corresponding to the particular item request could beupdated. Under the present invention, there are several possibleapproval status's (e.g., pending, rejected and approved). For example,if approver 18A rejected the item request, the approval status would bechanged to rejected. In this event, the process would end and approvalfrom approver 18B need not be requested. Conversely, upon issuing theitem request, and before approval by approvers 18A-B, the approvalstatus would be “pending.” After both approvers 18A-B have approved theitem request, the status would be changed to “approved.”

Assuming approver 18A has approved the item request issued by requestor14, an approval determination would then be sought by the next approveron the approver list (e.g., approver 18B) in a similar manner.Specifically, notification system 38 could forward the approval messagethereto (or generate and send a new approval message). Upon receipt,approver 18B could log into purchasing application 34. After avalidation and authorization check by validation system 40, requestdisplay system 42 would display a view containing a set of item requestsfor which approver 18B is asked to make an approval determination.Further, any informational message relevant to approver 18B's approvalcould be displayed. When approver 18B makes an approval determinationfor the item request, the approval determination is received by approvaldetermination system 44, which also provides approver 18B with thecapability to post any comments relating thereto. Further, update system46 will update the approver list and approval status accordingly. Ifapprover 18B was the final approver on the approval list, and allapprovers 18A-B approved of the item request by requestor 14, theapproval status would change from “pending” to “approved.”

Once any approver has made an approval determination, notificationsystem 38 can communicate a result message to requestor 14 and/or otherapprovers. Alternatively, a result message could be communicated onlywhen an approver has rejected an item request.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a method flow diagram 100 according to thepresent invention is depicted. As shown, first step S1 of method is foran approver to log into an application. Upon login, second step S2 is todisplay a view containing a set of item requests to the approver. Thirdstep S3 is to make an approval determination for at least one of theitem requests in the view. Fourth step S4 is to update the approver listand approval status corresponding to the item request(s) based on theapproval determination(s). In fifth step S5, it is determined whetherthe issue request was approved. If not, the process is ended in step S6.If so, it is determined whether approval by another approver is requiredin step S7. If so, the process is repeated for that subsequent approver.If not, the process is ended in step S6.

It is understood that the present invention can be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. Any kind ofcomputer/server system(s)—or other apparatus adapted for carrying outthe methods described herein—is suited. A typical combination ofhardware and software could be a general-purpose computer system with acomputer program that, when loaded and executed, carries out therespective methods described herein. Alternatively, a specific usecomputer, containing specialized hardware for carrying out one or moreof the functional tasks of the invention, could be utilized. The presentinvention can also be embedded in a computer program product, whichcomprises all the respective features enabling the implementation of themethods described herein, and which—when loaded in a computer system—isable to carry out these methods. Computer program, software program,program, or software, in the present context mean any expression, in anylanguage, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause asystem having an information processing capability to perform aparticular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or(b) reproduction in a different material form.

The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to aperson skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scopeof the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

1. A system for approving item requests, comprising a computer devicethat performs a method, comprising: receiving an item request for anitem from a requestor; dynamically generating an approval list for theitem request based on application of a set of rules to the item, the setof rules including item-based rules and safety-based rules, the approvallist being a hierarchy of approvers that includes all approvers,including all supervisors, financial personnel and safety personnel,from which approval must be obtained; automatically determining anapprover and any subsequent approver from the hierarchy based on an itemin an item request, the subsequent approver being someone from whomapproval must be obtained subsequent to approval being obtained from theapprover; logging the approver into an application used to make itemrequests; displaying by the application a view containing a set of itemrequests to the approver containing all item requests from allrequestors for which approval is requested from the approver, the set ofitem requests including a plurality of item requests from a plurality ofrequesters; receiving an approval determination for at least one of theset of item requests from the approver, wherein the receiving is adaptedto receive a plurality of approval determinations from the approversimultaneously; an update system for updating an approver listcorresponding to the at least one of the set of item requests based onthe approval determination, in case that the hierarchy contains anysubsequent approver and the approval determination by the approver isthat of the at least one of the set of item requests being approved,automatically forwarding an approval message to the subsequent approverin the approver list after the updating step.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the set of item requests comprises a plurality of item requests.3. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of item requests exist withina shopping cart, and wherein the approval determination from theapprover corresponds to the shopping cart as a whole.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the approval determination system further receivescomments from the approver based on the approval determination.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the request display system further displaysan informational message to the approver.
 6. The system of claim 1,further comprising a notification system for communicating an approvalmessage to the approver, wherein the approval message informs theapprover of the set of item requests requiring approval, and wherein thenotification system further forwards the approval message to asubsequent approver in the approver list after the approver list isupdated.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the notification systemfurther communicates a result message to a requestor based on theapproval determination.
 8. The system of claim 1, further comprising avalidation system for logging the approver into the application, and forverifying an authorization of the approver to make the approvaldetermination.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the update systemfurther updates an approval status corresponding to the at least oneitem request, and wherein the approval status is selected from the groupconsisting of approved, rejected and pending.
 10. The system of claim 1,wherein the approver list identifies approvers that have approved the atleast one item request, and approvers that have yet to approve the atleast one item request.
 11. A program product stored on a computerreadable storage medium for approving item requests, which whenexecuted, comprises: program code for receiving an item request for anitem from a requestor; program code for dynamically generating anapproval list for the item request based on application of a set ofrules to the item, the set of rules including item-based rules andsafety-based rules, the approval list being a hierarchy of approversthat includes all approvers, including all supervisors, financialpersonnel and safety personnel, from which approval must be obtained;program code for automatically determining an approver and anysubsequent approver from the hierarchy based on an item in an itemrequest, the subsequent approver being someone from whom approval mustbe obtained subsequent to approval being obtained from the approver;program code for logging the approver into an application used to makeitem requests; program code for displaying by the application a viewcontaining a set of item requests to the approver containing all itemrequests from all requestors for which approval is requested from theapprover, the set of item requests including a plurality of itemrequests from a plurality of requesters; program code for receiving anapproval determination for at least one of the set of item requests fromthe approver, wherein the receiving is adapted to receive a plurality ofapproval determinations from the approver simultaneously; program codefor updating an approver list corresponding to the at least one of theset of item requests based on the approval determination; and programcode for, in case that the hierarchy contains any subsequent approverand the approval determination by the approver is that of the at leastone of the set of item requests being approved, automatically forwardingan approval message to the subsequent approver in the approver listafter the updating step.
 12. The program product of claim 11, whereinthe set of item requests comprises a plurality of item requests.
 13. Theprogram product of claim 11, wherein the set of item requests existwithin a shopping cart, and wherein the approval determination from theapprover corresponds to the shopping cart as a whole.
 14. The programproduct of claim 11 wherein the program code for receiving the approvaldetermination further receives comments from the approver based on theapproval determination.
 15. The program product of claim 11, wherein theprogram code for displaying further displays an informational message tothe approver.
 16. The program product of claim 11, further comprisingprogram code for communicating an approval message to the approver,wherein the approval message informs the approver of the set of itemrequests requiring approval, and wherein the approval message isforwarded to a subsequent approver in the approver list after theapprover list is updated.
 17. The program product of claim 11, whereinthe program code for communicating further communicates a result messageto a requestor based on the approval determination.
 18. The programproduct of claim 11, further comprising program code for logging theapprover into the application, and for verifying an authorization of theapprover to make the approval determination.
 19. The program product ofclaim 11, wherein program code for updating further updates an approvalstatus corresponding to the at least one item request, and wherein theapproval status is selected from the group consisting of approved,rejected and pending.
 20. The program product of claim 11, wherein theapprover list identifies approvers that have approved the at least oneitem request, and approvers that have yet to approve the at least oneitem request.